In the end
by Crystal E. Fall
Summary: An internal, agonising battle neither of them saw coming. 'Til the end. The biggest question being: who can you trust? More characters than listed. DISCONTINUED. Sorry, everyone...
1. Prologue

**Hi everyone! So this is a short draft I wrote, as a little something while I'm working on my bigger project. I'll probably release small things like this in the future, just to keep my imagination going. Hope you like it, and let me know if you want me to continue it! I might have few ideas…**

* * *

I fell onto my knees, clutching my head tightly in my hands. Hot, white and excruciating it echoed through me, as if I were being stabbed from the inside over and again. I felt something warm and wet trickle down my spine, pulsating in time with my racing heartbeat.

And then it was gone.

I gaspingly filled my lungs with air, realising I had been holding my breath. The ground swam before me as I tried to stand up, but my body wouldn't obey me. I couldn't move. Every limb felt numb and heavy as cement. I realised I was shaking uncontrollably.

Then I saw him. Deep in my conscience, a picture formed in front of my unseeing eyes. A teenager. Brown hair. Brown eyes. A twisted, gleeful smile.

It was then I realised with a growing sense of dread, how terribly, _terribly_ wrong I'd been.

" _Goodbye, Chase,"_ my former friend whispered in my mind, his voice filled with pure hatred.

It engulfed me again, only this time the agony was far, far worse. Everything around me exploded in red, spinning faster and faster, dragging me down into the deep, no matter how much I tried to fight it. My insides burned as I writhed and racked, now suddenly on the ground, the gravel rasping against my cheek. Cold and smooth it was, stinging against my feverish skin. My breath rattled in my throat as I struggled hard to breathe, to force away the darkness creeping into the corners of my blurred vision.

 _You have to fight it…_

A warm, fuzzy feeling clouded everything into nothing. Except the pain. It kept increasing by the second.

Pain. Everywhere.

Nothing. But. Pain.

In the end, it was too much. I couldn't fight it any longer. Anything but this pain. Anything but this unbearable pain.

As from afar, a blood-curdling scream rang through my ears: a desperate, chilling, agonised cry. The last thing I would ever hear.

Just as darkness fell, I realised the person screaming was me.


	2. Falling Out

**One week earlier**

 **Kaz**

I walked in through the Penthouse door and frustratedly threw my 'mission bag' on the couch. Behind me the others in the team came in. I spun around, facing Chase.

"What on earth were you thinking, Chase?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe that I couldn't stand by and let someone _die_?" he defended himself. "The gas would have suffocated the man if I hadn't stepped in."

"You jeopardized the entire mission," I replied with a rising voice, "putting even more people in danger."

Skylar walked forward, with an annoyed expression.

"Oh come on, Kaz," she said. "Chase acted instinctively, and he's right: the man would have died without his aid."

"Also," Bree began, crossing her arms, "we completed the mission and saved everyone, didn't we? It's no big deal."

Oliver nodded by her side.

"I mean, we don't have to follow the plan every time. Sometimes the situation calls for improvisation," he stated.

I looked at the four unanimous faces and sighed in frustration. Here it was again. The third time in the last few days. Why did this keep happening?

Now I'd had enough.

"I see how it is," I spat out, the bitterness shining through maybe just a bit too much. But why should I care? "Well, don't come crawling to me when things start to go wrong, because they _will_."

I didn't give them a chance to answer, but turned on the spot and stormed out of the room. As I quickly glanced back I could see that they all looked confused and a little hurt. Except Oliver. His blue eyes were filled to the brim with sadness.

Honestly, it made me feel a bit bad, but I couldn't be bothered to care. I only took count on one thing, as I steered out onto the terrace in the gloomy daylight from the cloudy sky. I needed to fly. Somehow I found the wind brushing by me as I soared through the air soothing, and hopefully it would take my mind off things for a while. Let me forget the giant void that was almost constantly building in my chest.

 **Chase**

I sighed deeply, fixing my eyes on the setting sun. I could feel the heat on my skin as I gazed out into the night, but it seemed as if it couldn't penetrate me as I felt cold and dull inside.

Normally, the sight of the sun's rays bathing Centium City in soft colours would cheer me up. Not today it seemed. There was too much on my mind.

I frowned. It didn't help at all that I couldn't for the world think of a solution. For the first time in a while, I had no idea what to do. Absolutely no clue. I had gone over the scenarios taken place over the last few days so many times (498 times to be exact), twisting and turning every single phrase and action, but still I had come no closer to an answer. I didn't even quite know what the issue was, to be honest, but I couldn't help but feel that I was responsible in some way. I had to be. Anything else would be illogical.

The steel railing of the terrace felt cool and smooth under my forearms as I leaned against it, taking a deep breath.

 _I guess super intelligence is useless when it comes to personal matters._

Just then, I felt a hand lightly clutch my shoulder.

"Chase."

 **Bree**

My brother turned around towards me and gave a faint smile.

"Hey..."

"Hey."

His eyes focused on the city again as I leaned over the railing by his side.

"It's beautiful from up here," I commented, breaking the short silence that had formed between us.

"Yeah, I guess," he sighed.

"You guess?"

Silence fell again, the only sounds being cars driving in the distance and somebody playing music across the road. I couldn't hear which song, but I guessed it was jazz or blues because of the typical rhythm.

Eventually, he spoke.

"I feel like I can't really enjoy it, when there are so many… other things…" He trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"Other things?" I questioned innocently. Chase heaved a deep sigh.

"After the argument earlier… It got me thinking. About the past few days. There's been and still is so much friction between a few of us. And I don't… know or understand why," he admitted.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, not quite following his train of thought.

I could almost see his mind spinning wheels as he pondered over what and how much he should tell me.

He seemed to settle on part-truth, as he finally blurted out:

"Why is Kaz so mad at me?"

Before I had time to answer, he added:

"And don't tell me it isn't true, because both you and I know it is."

I didn't know what to answer, as those were the exact words I had meant to utter. Frowning, I thought hard.

"Why don't you ask him about it?" I said carefully. "Then you would get a direct answer and not need to dwell on it as you're doing now."

"I already tried. He wouldn't listen and just… walked away."

"Maybe we just have to give him some time," I suggested, trying to sound upbeat.

Chase didn't answer, but met my gaze with uncertainty. I let out a small sigh.

"Look, don't worry about it, okay? When Kaz is ready, he'll tell us."

"I hope you're right," he murmured. Lowering his voice so much I had to strain my ears to hear him, he added under his breath: "But I don't think it's going to be as simple as that."

He shifted his feet, eyes downcast. I knew immediately what he was thinking.

"Chase. This is _not_ your fault," I said firmly, looking him strictly in the eye.

A second he seemed taken aback, but he recovered quickly.

"You don't know that," he retorted, though with a tone of hesitancy creeping in.

"No, I don't," I agreed patiently. "But I do know that it is never solely one person's fault. There are always other factors around contributing too. If anything, we could, and probably are all to blame. Secondly, if it is your fault - which I highly doubt - you never had the intention of hurting someone."

"What does that change?"

"Everything," I sighed again, hoping he would understand what I meant by it.

He did, nodding slowly. I could see that he didn't believe me, but I didn't say anything. If Chase didn't want to talk to me about it now, I wasn't going to force him to. He had to take it at his own pace. Even though every cell of me was screaming with overprotectiveness, he was the one who had to decide.

A few words came to mind, ringing through my ears.

" _You can't help somebody if they don't whole-heartedly help themselves."_

Adam of all people had told me that, and he was completely right. I couldn't help him if he didn't help himself. But I hated having to just stand by, watching him hurt, not knowing what was going on on the inside.

Eventually, I couldn't stop myself and gave in, just a little.

"Oh, come here," I said, holding out my arms. A shadow of a smile played on his lips.

"Only 'cause you insisted," he answered jokingly. I grinned back.

"Of course."

He walked towards me and I wrapped him in a tight hug. I could feel his body relax as he let out a deep sigh against my shoulder. Somehow, it felt like we were little kids all over again, when I used to comfort him. I specifically remembered this one time when Chase had fallen over and hurt his knee. It was so far back, but in this moment, it felt yet so recent. I couldn't help but feel glad. Feel glad that we hadn't lost that connection.

 **Kaz**

The sun was setting over the city, casting a golden light over the many buildings. From where I was sitting on the roof of one of many skyscrapers I could see the ocean close to the horizon, covered in the same shining hue. Here and there the street and houses were being lit up, adding even more to the light show.

I sighed. Centium City was one of the most beautiful places on Earth at night, according to me. Nothing could ever beat that kind of view.

At the same time, I knew it was getting late, and that I should be thinking of heading back to the Penthouse. I swallowed hard. While restlessly flying around Centium City today, I had had time to think things through, and when the frustration had died down I had found myself feeling guilty. I had overreacted this morning, and it hadn't been fair of me taking it all out on everyone. Neither of them had done anything wrong, not intentionally at least. Even though it sometimes felt like it.

But I felt done with it. I didn't want to dwell on the problems anymore. If they even were problems to begin with.

 _You're just being stupid. Paranoid. And… what's that word again? Oh yeah. Over-obsessive._

I slowly rose to my feet, and took off into the air. Hopefully, this was something we could put behind us and forget it ever happened. I certainly felt ready to let go. Perhaps. It would be hard, but I would rather pretend it never happened than talk about it. I found it too embarrassing and too close at the moment.

Hopefully if I apologized, things could go back to normal. Whatever normal was.

 **Skylar**

Bree and I had just closed the front door when the Hyper-lift whirred and Chase and Oliver came out. Both raised a hand as a greeting when they noticed us. Kaz didn't seem to be with them. Maybe he wasn't back yet. I frowned. I couldn't help but feel a little worried. He had been gone for… five hours now?

I was woken from my thoughts by Oliver speaking.

"How was it in town?" he asked.

I looked at Bree, who reciprocated the smile I sent her.

"It was great," I answered. "Quite a lot of people though."

Bree nodded in agreement.

"Also, the coffee at Downey's Cafe is _amazing,_ " she added."We should go there together sometime. All of us."

"Yeah, that would be nice," Chase replied.

Bree and I hung up our coats, while the boys made their way over to the kitchen and started preparing dinner. I looked down at my wrist-watch. It was 6:30. No wonder I was starving.

"So, what have you two been doing?" Bree asked as we walked over to them again, me opening a drawer to help take out utensils.

"Inventing. We're creating a device based on the simple photomultiplier tube, but more powerful," Chase said, surprisingly short-cut to be him. Normally he would give a lengthy explanation of every single detail - most of which I only understood a quarter of - but not today it seemed. I saw Bree quizzically raise an eyebrow towards him, which he answered with a shrug.

Oliver, oblivious to the silent exchange happening behind his back, said while opening the fridge:

"Yeah, who knew photon energy could be so interesting? Now," changing the topic as he placed tomatoes, lettuce and ham on the bench next to the cucumber, carrots and olive oil already there, "I don't really feel like cooking much, so I thought we could make a salad. Does that sound alright?"

"Sure," I responded. "What do you want us to do?"

"There's not much to do, all it is is cutting up and mixing the ingredients," he stated.

"Ooh, I can roast some sunflower seeds to top it off with," Bree said eagerly, reaching for a packet of them on the kitchen shelf.

"Wouldn't it be, um... better if someone else did that?" Oliver asked carefully.

"Why?" Bree inquired, seeming a little confused.

"Well, you're not exactly the best at cooking," Chase pointed out, smirking.

"What? Come on, I'm not _that_ bad…" She trailed off when she saw our looks and raised her hands in surrender. "Okay fine. I'll take out the plates and cutlery, then."

She handed the packet of seeds to Oliver, who poured half of it and some oil in the frying pan he'd put on the stove.

Soon we were all occupied, me cutting the ingredients, Chase helping Bree set the table and Oliver stirring in the pan. We didn't speak, but it was a comfortable silence.

Eventually, I spoke the thought that had been gnawing in the back of my head ever since we came back home.

"Do you have any idea when Kaz will be back?"

The silence this time was a lot more tense, the only sound being the crackling from the pan.

"I don't know," Oliver said after a while, his voice sounding so small all of a sudden.

I nodded slowly, not really knowing what to say.

"Maybe you should talk to him when he comes back," Bree suggested quietly. "Find out if something's wrong."

Now it was Oliver's turn to nod, sighing as he did.

"I'll do that," he answered simply. "Not sure it'll work though; he's been ignoring me just as much as all of you."

The mood quickly changed when suddenly a bitter, prickling smell arose in the air. I sniffed, wrinkling my nose.

"Can you smell burnt?" I asked. "Where could it- Oliver the pan's on FIRE!"

Oliver cried out when he noticed the growing flames. He had been so lost in thought that the seeds had burnt, causing them to ignite. Quickly, he pulled it away from the hob and sent a stream of water from his free hand, extinguishing the fire immediately. A string of smoke trailed up from the now drenched dark lumps that once had been seeds.

I felt bad doing so, but I couldn't help but roar with laughter. The others soon followed. Oliver looked around sheepishly, scraping at the blackened mass burnt fast on the pan's bottom.

"Some of it's eatable, I think," he murmured, blushing hard.

By now I managed to recover enough to try and comfort him.

"It's okay, we can make more if there isn't enough," I said, patting his shoulder. "Also, I'm not that into sunflower seeds anyway."

He smiled at me, a little cheered up, but it didn't last long, as Bree didn't miss the opportunity of dramatic irony.

"Welcome to the bad cooking club!" Bree exclaimed, spreading her arms out in pretended excitement.

Oliver opened his mouth to defend himself, but when he saw Bree's teasing smile he just slowly shook his head. I bit my lip hard to quench another burst of laughter. Looking over to Chase, I could see he was grinning too.

Suddenly he tensed, listening intently. I glanced in the direction he was gazing just to see a quick glint of someone heading up the stairs.

 _Kaz._

The room went quiet, presumably because the others saw him too. I met Oliver's now serious eyes and gestured with my head in the direction Kaz had gone. Oliver nodded and, putting the frying pan down, walked quickly towards and up the stairs.

 **Oliver**

"Hey, aren't you hungry?"

Kaz had just put his hand on the bedroom door knob, but turned around at my call and looked blankly back at me.

"Not really," he replied monotonously.

Even though he tried his best not to show it, he clearly was upset. After knowing him for so long I could tell at once by his slightly crouched posture and his ears being faintly red that something was really bothering him.

Though his usually soft brown eyes were cold, and his face motionless, which worried me. A lot. Normally Kaz was an open book, all his feelings being clearly expressed. Now it was as if a wall had come down that I couldn't get through. I didn't understand why, but I had to find out.

With Kaz, it was almost always best to cut to the chase immediately. Therefore I asked:

"Kaz, what is going on? Is something wrong?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he said in the same emotionless voice.

"Something's up, I know it," I persisted. "I - no, we - are worried about you."

"I said," he began, his voice cracking with anger all of a sudden, "I _don't_ want to talk about it!"

I was starting to feel desperate. This wasn't going well at all.

"Kaz, please," I begged. "You're my best friend. I- I just want to help you. Why are you shutting me out?"

The question hung in the air in quiet tension. I could see how conflicted emotions flickered across his face as I stood there, waiting for an answer. I'd never felt this helpless before. We had always stuck together, no matter what was thrust on us, and confided in each other when we'd felt down. There hadn't been any secrets. Not many, anyway. But now... something had changed from our pre-teen years. Somehow, I had lost Kaz's trust along the way. It pained me that I didn't know why, but I was determined to make it up to him for whatever I had done. Nothing mattered, only that Kaz would trust me again. He had to. I couldn't - no, I refused to - imagine what I'd do if he didn't.

As all this whizzed through my mind, Kaz, still tormented, finally broke the silence.

"You won't understand," he whispered, so faintly I could hardly hear him.

"Then help me to."

He didn't answer, just met my gaze with sadness, his eyes now a hole into his soul. Even though the bottomless sorrow cut into me as swiftly as sharp knife, at least it was better than the blank emptiness he'd expressed earlier. Hopefully.

"You need to trust me, Kaz," I continued. "It's unlike you to build walls like this. Let me in and we can figure this out together. We can get help-"

I regretted the last words as soon as they left my mouth and tried to take them back, but it was too late.

"You think there's something wrong with me?" Kaz said, his voice rising with every syllable. "You think I'm some sorta' _crazy case_?!"

"No- no I didn't mean it that way-"

He didn't let me finish, but yelled:

"Have you seen yourself recently? It's not me who needs help, it's you. It's all of you. You know, before I thought you were really smart. The smartest person I knew, as a matter of fact. And I thought you actually cared…"

For a second his voice faltered, tears gleaming in his eyes, but soon his expression hardened again.

"I'm beginning to see that I was wrong, since you obviously can't take the consequences for your actions. Or even notice them, for that matter!"

"Kaz, what are you talking about?" I cried, totally bewildered.

"Just leave me alone!" he snapped.

And with that, he turned around and opened the bedroom door in one swift movement. I didn't even have the chance to open my mouth before it slammed shut, leaving me alone in the dimly lit hallway.

I sighed deeply, feeling my shoulders sag as the knot in my stomach grew tighter. I noticed I was exhausted, as if all my energy just had been sucked out. Slowly, I closed my burning eyes and shakily drew a few heavy breaths, because I knew I otherwise would lose the plot completely.

I… I just lost my best friend.

What was I supposed to do now?

I paced back and forth in my room, thinking hard about my next move. It had to be subtle. I didn't want him to suspect anything. At the same time, I wanted it to hurt, just as much as I did because of his actions.

I shuddered as I thought of him. He had stolen what I valued most from me, and I would make him pay for it.

Well, hopefully I would get my revenge soon. I smiled as an idea formed in my mind. Very soon indeed.

Now was the time to act.

* * *

 **I'm so sorry for the very long delay! There's been a lot going on lately, with national tests and final exams replacing each other. I'll try to update again in the next few weeks, but I can't promise anything since I'll probably have to limit my writing to weekends only. Studying is taking over my life...**

 **Also, thank you so much for the support and Reviews! I'm really glad you liked my previous chapter, your comments literally made my day! :)**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it! I'm sorry if you found this chapter a little boring, but these events are really important to future events, so please bear with me if you find that the case.**

 **Until next time!**


	3. Growing Rifts

**Four days earlier**

 **Chase**

I opened my eyes to complete darkness, a dull throb in the back of my head. Groaning, my eyes focused on the luminous clock I knew was standing on the window sill next to Oliver's bed. It was just past three in the morning.

I leaned back against the capsule wall, my fingers running through my hair in a try to ease the pain. For the past few days I had had a constant headache, and it was really starting to get annoying. Painkillers hadn't helped a lot either. Sometimes I even wondered if they made things worse, as the throbbing just seemed to grow in strength.

In a way, I guessed it wasn't all that strange, considering everything that had been going on lately. I looked over to the empty space were Kaz's bed had been. He and Oliver hadn't spoken a word to each other since their argument earlier, and the added tension had resulted in Kaz moving into the guest room. I guessed it was for the better, ceasing a little bit of the friction in the air that used to continuously fill the Penthouse, but it still felt like the wrong move, as Kaz was more distant than ever. The only person he ever really talked to occasionally was Bree, who was doing her best to stay positive and keep us together. Though I wasn't sure it was worth it anymore.

On top of that, things weren't going well between Skylar and Oliver.  
Oliver had taken the fight with Kaz bad, and spent more and more time alone as well. The times you actually saw him, he never seemed quite there in his mind. Skylar had tried to reach out, but he had just pushed her away, saying he needed time to think things out. They hadn't really interacted much, and when they had, the conversation had felt strained or even forced, which even I could tell wasn't a good sign.

On average, we all spent less and less time together, everybody scared of bringing out the worst of one another.

I turned my head to the right again. Now that I thought about it, Oliver had been unusually quiet. Normally he would toss and turn a lot, making just a little noise, but now there was nothing. My eyes had by this time adjusted to the dark, which allowed me to make out the bedframe and the crumpled-up bed covers at its foot. No wonder it was so quiet. Oliver wasn't even here.

 _Seems like I'm not the only one who can't sleep._

I strained my ears, and two voices floated up from downstairs, that I immediately recognized. Oliver's and Skylar's.

" _I understand."_

" _You do?"_

They didn't sound too happy. I relaxed again, their voices fading away. It wouldn't be right of me to listen in to their conversation, now that they were finally talking.

Something else always came up in my mind every time I thought of the situation: a sense of deep, pure guilt. Somehow, I just couldn't let go of the thought that everything that had happened was my fault.

I let out a deep sigh. Even though I had abolished the position of Mission Leader, I still felt responsible for the team. It was still my duty to take care of everyone, no matter what Bree had told me two days ago. I should have acted, but instead I avoided it all and let things get out of control. Something had to be done, fast, or the whole team would crumble.

The thing was, I had absolutely no idea what that something could be. And what could I do, really?

I couldn't talk to Kaz, as he seemed to hate my guts; Bree would just tell me I was wrong as she had earlier, and I really didn't need that right now; Oliver deflected the topic every time I brought it up, not wanting to talk about it as it clearly upset him; and Skylar… I wasn't totally sure how to approach the subject with her.

 _When had things gotten so complicated?_

We were all drifting apart, and I knew the others felt it too. Merely the fact that I felt uneasy approaching all of them more than supported the point; it proved it.

I sighed again. I just hoped that a mission wouldn't come up anytime soon, because I was quite certain we wouldn't be able to take care of it properly in our vulnerable state. Even if we did manage, our situation would be unsustainable in the long run and most likely cause more bad than good.

 **Skylar**

"Hey, I didn't know you were up. Couldn't sleep?"

I turned around to see Oliver coming down the stairs, dressed in his pyjamas. I draped my arms tighter around my knees and sighed deeply.

"Not really. You?"

"Same here," he answered as he sat down on the couch next to me.

An uncomfortable silence settled between us, thousands of unsaid thoughts hanging in the air.

There were so many things I wanted to tell him. About the heavy feeling building in my chest, about how I felt so confused, as if I was mentally running through an impossible maze, about how I felt almost betrayed as he didn't seem to want me around anymore… and, most of all, about how I just wished things could go back to normal.

But the words just wouldn't come.

Luckily, I didn't have to formulate my tumultuous thoughts.

"Skylar?" Oliver said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry."

I looked at him, puzzled. That wasn't anything I had expected. At all.

"For what?" I wondered.

He sighed, refusing to meet my eyes.

"I haven't been here lately," he replied.

When I continued to look blank, he added: "Physically, sure, but mentally…"

I nodded, still unsure though what he meant by it.

"There's been a lot going on," I stated simply.

"You don't say," he sighed.

It went quiet again for a while, before he finally worked up the courage to keep going.

"I… I feel like I can't be the person I want to be anymore. I don't know how, but suddenly everything flew out of the window and I ended up hurting you."

"That's not true…" I began.

Oliver continued as if he hadn't heard me.

"I care about you so much, Skylar… but I let you down, and you don't deserve to go through any of this. I've been a bad friend, but most of all… I've been a bad boyfriend."

It felt as if a bucket of ice cold water had been flung over me when I with dawning realization understood what he was implying.

"You're breaking up with me?" I stated, trying to sound neutral to hide my emotions.

 _I don't need to make it harder for him than it already is._

"I… I just feel that I need to sort myself out, and… I can't do that if I have to take care of you too."

"I can look out for myself, Oliver," I said softly. "You don't need to protect me."

"I know, I just… want to be able to be there for you. As of now… I can't even take care of myself."

He smiled bitterly, though it never came to his eyes. I reached out and gently placed the palm of my hand on his knee.

"I understand," I said, my voice only shaking a little.

"You do?" he wondered, sounding only vaguely surprised.

"Yes." I sighed.

A feeling of dread filled me, counteracting my statement, threatening to pull me down. I ignored it the best I could. My feelings could wait. I… I just couldn't deal with them right now. I forced myself to continue.

"I haven't been myself either lately. Maybe we both need some time to put ourselves together again."

"Maybe we do," he replied simply, though with a voice filled with outmost sadness.

Suddenly a vibrating sound echoed through the room, followed by a familiar melody, causing me to jump at the abrupt noise. Oliver paled as he drew out his phone from his pyjama pants-pocket. He quickly glanced at the screen and dismissed the call before I got a chance to see who it was.

"Who was it?" I asked.

 _And why did they call you at three in the morning?_

"I- I don't know," he stammered, eyes downcast. "Probably had a wrong number."

I knew immediately that he was lying. I guessed he suspected that I detected it, since he kept his gaze stubbornly glued to the floor.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" I said carefully.

No response.

He only shifted a little in his stance. I sighed again, the rock in my chest getting heavier.

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me anything, then I'm not going to force you to."

Finally he met my gaze, with unsure, clear blue eyes.

"But just so you know… if you ever need any help, or just someone to talk to, I'll be there for you…" I promised, looking him deeply in the eye, before adding: "… a-as a friend."

He took a deep breath.

"Thank you Skylar," he began in a hoarse voice, "but I think this is something I have to face on my own."

"Okay," I murmured, so quietly I was almost unsure if I had said the word or just thought it.

 **Bree**

I yawned as I slowly descended down the stairs. I had woken up, feeling surprisingly alert, and had decided it was no point trying to go back to sleep, as I knew it wouldn't return anyway.

When I came down I stopped dead in my tracks. Oliver and Skylar were already up, preparing breakfast, which was surprising considering it was only 6:30. Skylar was laying the table and Oliver seemed to be cutting up fruit at the kitchen bench.

I eyed them thoroughly and took in their weary, tired looks. They both looked like they hadn't slept for weeks.

"Good morning, Bree," Oliver greeted, trying and failing to conceal the hollowness in his voice.

"Good morning…" I replied cautiously.

Something major must have gone down. I turned quizzically to Skylar, who at seeing my gaze answered:

"Neither of us could sleep."

I raised one eyebrow as we kept eye contact. I knew that what she had said wasn't the entire truth, and I was quite sure she knew that I knew too.

We kept staring at each other, until she eventually looked away and continued to set the table. I shrugged. I guessed I could ask her about it later.

 _Maybe she - they - just need some time._

"What's for breakfast?" I asked, feeling it was time to change the topic. "Do you need any help?"

"Nothing special really," Oliver said. "Just cereal, but I made some fruit salad to make it less boring. And no, I'm done now."

He put down a bowl with the fruit on the table, and we sat down, Oliver and Skylar on either side of me, quietly beginning to eat.

I had just about finished, when a blaring alarm went off, echoing through the Penthouse. It was a Mission Alert. Skylar hastily rose to her feet and walked over to the flashing screen of the tablet lying on the nearby desk, Oliver and I not far behind. As the alarm faded away I could hear footsteps coming from upstairs. Not soon after, Chase and Kaz came running down.

"What's going on?" Chase demanded.

"There's been an electricity error at the Centium City hydropower plant," Skylar began to explain, putting down the tablet. "The spillways have malfunctioned and the dam threatens to overflow. If we don't do something fast, the dam could break and put Centium City under water."

"Then let's go," I said, super-speeding upstairs to change into my Mission Suit.

* * *

 **I thought that since it's Easter break I would have had time to write a lot more, but time just flew! I can't believe I'm going back to school in two days!**

 **This chapter was quite difficult for me to write, as I quickly had writer's block (this early on in the story: not good) and I actually never have broken up with someone before. I didn't want them to break their friendship, only their relationship for now, but it turned out to be harder to express than I thought. Hope it seemed true and at least kind of realistic, I really tried.**

 **Next chapter will (finally!) have some action, which I hope will turn out okay. (I'm so pumped! :D** **) It's the first time for me to write any action this big scale, and I'm really anxious and excited to see what you will think of it!**

 **Also, to avoid any confusion, the story takes place after the cliff-hanger of The Attack was resolved. Just a side note that I probably should have put in the prologue, but oh well…**

 **It's hard to believe people are actually reading my stories: it's thrilling, totally horrifying and so awesome! Thank you so much for all the support; once again, it means the world to me, and thank you for being so patient!**

 **Now it's time for me to stop rambling, so I hope you enjoyed, and (hopefully) I'll see you next time!**


	4. Overflow

**...I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages. I can't believe it's been THREE MONTHS! That's insane, and I apologize deeply for it. I'm so grateful for all the support I've had for this story (It just hit over 560 views - thank you so much!); you're just amazing.**

 **As an apology this chapter is extra long, and I hope you enjoy it. It was quite hard on me - I wanted it to be as accurate as possible - but it's finally here... and things are definitely speeding up now.**

* * *

 **Bree**

I skidded to a halt just outside the site, the giant brick wall of the dam looming almost threateningly above me. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I slowly took in the area.

To the left I saw several massive gates, all closed except for one, which was letting out water into one of the narrow channels - or spillways as they were more commonly called - stemming from each of the openings, all of whom connected into one further down. In the valley below, among the forest with newly grown leaves, was another dam, collecting the water from the gateways.

In the distance, I could just make out the silhouette of Centium City, skyscrapers glinting in the early morning sun. Looking to the right, a constellation of low-key sand-coloured buildings were scattered along the dam's edge. A rectangular house with panoramic windows, which I presumed was the main control room, jutted out at the front of the constellation, connecting with a corridor to the other areas and the entrance - a flight of stairs leading up. Along the dam ran a thin walkway lined with a protective metal railing, connecting both sides of the construction. If I strained my ears, I could hear the faint noise of an alarm sounding, coming from somewhere inside the power plant.

The sound of footsteps echoed behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know that it was my teammates approaching. They came up beside me - Skylar and Kaz to my left, Oliver and Chase to the right - and quietly eyed the construction. A few seconds passed, before Chase nodded in the building's direction and began walking forward. Without saying a word, we all followed to the dam wall and up the flight of stairs. As we got closer, the alarm grew louder, though not enough to drown out the powerful movement of the water on the other side of the brick wall. I glanced upwards, once again eyeing the rough structure of the mound, the only thing holding back the tons and tons of liquid pressing against it. I couldn't help but feel a little nervous being so close to it all, but I did my best to push those emotions away. I needed to stay cool.

 _It's just a bit of water, no big deal._

Yeah, that definitely made me feel calmer… not.

When we finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped out on the walkway, a wiry man with wild gray hair, dressed in long black pants and an orange protective vest, came hurrying over to us.

"Thank goodness you're here!" he exclaimed, sighing in relief. "I'm Gareth, chief mechanical engineer."

 **Chase**

The man stopped short panting, apparently out of breath. In old habit, I stepped forward.

"What's the issue?" I asked, trying to seem calm.

"The spillway gate won't close," Gareth began to explain, pointing to the slightly open gate to the side, where water was flowing through. "We installed a new system recently to operate the doors, but it seems to be malfunctioning. The fuse keeps blowing."

"Where is this fuse?" Oliver questioned.

"Up in the control room," Gareth said, gesturing to the rectangular building to our right. "Normally, we would close the gate manually – there are backup controls in the gate rooms - but the access tunnel is blocked. We can't get through."

"Well, maybe we can help with that," Bree stated, crossing her arms.

"I hope you can," the man answered seriously. "It's no danger now, but if the gate doesn't close soon, the security dam further down can overflow - or even possibly break - and put Centium City in severe danger of flooding."

A tense silence enfolded the group. The mission had turned to be more serious than we had presumed. And considering how things had been between us for the last couple of days… I stole a quick glance at my sister, who nervously met my gaze, before turning to the man again.

"Can you excuse us for a second?"

He nodded curtly, and I dragged the others aside.

"Okay," I began, clearing my throat, "I know we all haven't been on the best of terms lately, but to make this work we have to cooperate."

The other four nodded solemnly. I thought for a second, running through several possible solutions in my head, before coming to a conclusion on the best one.

"Bree," I said. "Check the area around the spillways and the security dam. Look for any possible faults or anyone who could come in harm's way."

She nodded.

"On it."

"I'll come with her," Skylar interjected hastily. "We'll be faster that way."

I frowned. Skylar knew Bree could search the grounds in less than 20 seconds, and that alone was more than quick enough. Unless there was something else… another reason.

"Okay," I answered, choosing not to comment her decision and instead turning to Kaz. "Kaz-"

I didn't get a chance to finish.

"I'll examine the gateways and the blocked-off access tunnel," he interrupted, a wave of annoyance washing through his features.

"And I'll have a look at the control room," Oliver informed. "The main problem should lie there."

This was not going the way I wanted it. I sighed.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be better if you went with Kaz?" I suggested carefully.

Oliver stared at me incredulously and shook his head.

"No. I think I know what's wrong and how to fix it. I can do this. Or don't you trust me?" he added with afterthought.

"Of course I do! I'm just saying, if there's a block in the access tunnel you would have a greater chance to shift it with your super-strength."

I saw him inadvertently glance in Kaz's direction with clear unsureness. I groaned internally, closing my eyes in exasperation.

 _Of course that's the problem._

We didn't have time to argue. The longer we stood here, the bigger the threat would get.

"Fine," I said. "You go up there; I'll go to the tunnel. But take Gareth with you. He may be a good asset to figuring this out."

I nodded towards the wiry man, who was watching us with interest.

"Sure."

"Everybody ready?" I asked, just to double-check.

They all murmured a reply of confirmation and with that, we all split up in different directions.

Kaz and I quickly headed to the left along the walkway in strained silence. Soon, a metal door came into sight. Seeing that it was lined up with the spillway gates, I presumed that it lead to the gate rooms. Wordlessly, Kaz used his pyrokinesis to melt the door off its hinges, which then fell to the ground with a bang.

I peered inside and was met with a wall of dark boulders.

 _That's odd..._

There must have been some kind of roof fall in here, I figured. Since I didn't know how big it was, it could be ages before it was cleared.

"I'll take a look at the gateways," Kaz muttered in a low voice, before taking off into the air.

Sighing, I watched him go before looking back at the rocks in front of me.

"And I guess I'll start to shift these," I said to myself half-heartedly.

Slowly I stepped forward, activating my molecular kinesis.

 **Oliver**

When we parted, I immediately approached Gareth, who inquiringly looked at me.

"What's the plan?" he asked.

"The others are handling the gates, the blocked access way and the security dam," I explained very briefly. "I'm heading to the control room to try and locate the fault, but I may need your help."

He nodded in understanding, before following me up the flight of stairs that lead to the rectangular building at the construction's side. Looking down, I noted that we were quite high up. In the distance, Centium City unraveled before my eyes, stretching beyond the horizon where it blurred together with the greening forest. I sighed. If I had the time I would have stayed to admire the view. Instead I forced myself to continue up and eventually found myself outside a plain metal door. Trying the handle, I came to the conclusion that it was locked. I smirked faintly to myself.

 _Well, that doesn't stop me._

With little effort, I pulled the door open, breaking the lock right through the wall.

"Uh…" I heard a voice from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Gareth staring blankly at me, mouth slightly agape. I raised an eyebrow in question, to which he said slowly:

"You do know I have the key, right?"

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"Oh," I blushed dumbfoundedly: I actually hadn't thought of that. "I do now!"

Without waiting for an answer I hurried inside.

The control room was small but functional, and contained an array of screens, blinking lights, buttons and gears. A massive control board lined the whole right side of the room, accompanied by two monitors above. One seemed to be overseeing the power plant itself and the turbines, while the other showed some form of site plan over the dams and gate systems. A warning triangle was flashing beside one of the sketched gates; representing the real gate that was malfunctioning. Underneath on the control board a red light was going off next to a button marked _GT 1._

In front of me stood several filing cabinets along with several vents and hatches on the wall. To my left, the panoramic windows exposed a breathtaking view over the entire complex. Far down I could see Kaz and Chase near the gates, the height making them seem tiny.

Turning around, I approached the monitors. Footsteps were heard from behind, revealing Gareth coming up beside me.

"Well, as you can see it's only gate 1 that's having problems," he said, gesturing towards the monitor.

"The only question is: why?" I mumbled.

"I think I might k-" Gareth began, but was interrupted when a shrill tune echoed through the room.

Taking out his phone, he inadvertently flinched.

"It's the CEO," he explained. "I've got to take this. Explain what's going on."

I nodded, as the man walked out of the door to get out of earshot. I turned my attention back to the controls just as the comm set crackled into life.

" _All clear around the spillways,"_ Bree's voice sounded.

" _We're heading to the security dam now,"_ Skylar filled in.

" _Great,"_ Chase replied. _"Oliver?"_

"I haven't found anything yet, but I'm working on it," I reported in a neutral tone.

" _Okay."_

" _No signs of outer damage on the first two gates,"_ Kaz said. _"Heading to the third."_

The line went quiet again as we all got back to work. I frowned, thinking hard.

Only one of the gates wasn't working properly. So far, I could think of two possible reasons. One: something was wrong with the gate itself. Probably in the mechanics, as Kaz had said there was no external harm.

Or two: the new system that had recently been installed was faulty, which would mean all the gates were electrically malfunctioning. At the moment, this seemed less likely, as everything - except gate 1 of course - was working fine.

I sighed inaudibly. There was no way I could know for sure.

Unless…

I raised my hand to the comm set.

"Guys, I'm going to test the second gate," I said.

" _Are you sure you should?"_ Chase answered a little uncertainly.

"Yes, I am," I snapped.

Why did he keep on doubting me? I knew what I was doing!

" _Okay,"_ he gave in with a sigh. _"But open it only a little, there's already a lot of water in the security dam."_

I scanned the control board, until I found the lever I was looking for: DOORS GT 2. After a moment's hesitation, I pulled the lever down halfway, the mechanics whirring. Looking at the monitor, I saw the gate slowly open.

"That works," I muttered to myself triumphantly. "Now let's see…"

I dragged the lever upwards again, and the gate doors began to close, causing me to nearly cheer in relief.

"Gate 2 works," I told the others through the comm set. "Which means that-"

 _CRACK._

The sudden sound caused me to jump. Red lights flashed on the control board as another glaring warning triangle appeared next to the second gate. Panic rushed through me. What had happened? The controls had seemed fine seconds ago! This was not good…

As if on cue, Kaz yelled in my ear:

" _Oliver, what have you done?!"_

 **Kaz**

The whole left side of the plant shook as if in an earthquake. Down on the walkway I could see Chase struggling to stay upright. I watched in terror as the second gate now stopped halfway, letting more water into the spillways.

"Oliver, answer me!" I demanded into the comm set.

" _I don't understand!"_ Oliver began with a perplexed tone. _"This shouldn't have happened…"_

"Well, it did!" I growled, panic entering my voice.

 _This is_ not _good…_

Quickly I flew to Chase, who frantically was looking around.

"What. Was. That?!" I exclaimed as I landed.

"I don't know," he replied through clenched teeth. "I think the explosion - or whatever it was - came from the gate rooms."

He nodded towards the now cleared passage.

" _What's going on?"_ Skylar asked.

"Something exploded," I explained, "And now the second gate isn't working either."

There was a moment of silence, before Bree spoke in an urgent tone.

" _That's not good. Not at all. Guys, I have bad news…"_

"What?" Chase urged.

" _The foundation of the security dam is cracking. It hasn't spread much yet, but with more pressure…"_

I saw panic wash over Chase as he processed what she was saying. Finally, he raised his hand to the earpiece and said:

"Oliver: Keep looking for the fault. Skylar, Bree: See if you can find any more cracks or breaches. And Kaz…"

We locked eyes for the first time this mission, his gaze unreadable.

"Check out the gate rooms. We have to stop this, and fast."

I nodded slowly.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

His features hardened.

"I'm going to buy us some time. Now go!"

With that, he took off towards the spillways. I didn't waste any time, but hurried into the corridor that Chase had cleared up.

Daylight was immediately replaced by darkness as I walked further in, my footsteps echoing eerily on the concrete floor. Activating my pyrokinesis, I used my ignited hand to guide my way.

Finally, a row of doors appeared in sight: the gate rooms. Quickening my step, I approached the first one. A thin metal sign marked it as Gate Room 1. I reached out for the handle with my free hand and to my relief it slid open. Inside, I could see steep rock stairs leading down into… nothing?

I leaned forward, letting the light from my hand travel further into the darkness. My reflection stared back at me from down below.

I frowned. The gate room was filled with water.

 _That's strange…_

I hurried to the second door and looked inside. It was flooded too.

I didn't know how deep the room was, which made it dangerous to dive down. The only other possible choice was…

"Oliver?" I said into the comm set. "Can you come down to the gate rooms?"

" _Wait a second,"_ he replied in a focused tone. _"I think I've almost…"_

"No, I can't wait," I interrupted. "We need to close those gates now, but the controls are under water."

" _It won't matter once I fix-"_

"Oliver, I need…" I began, before trailing off with a sigh. "Just please listen to me!"

" _I can do this, even though you don't seem to believe so,"_ he snapped back. _"I only need some time-"_

"We don't have time!" I yelled.

" _Which is why I need to concentrate!"_

A weak voice interrupted our quarrel.

"Guys, can you hurry up, _please?_ I… can't… hold…" Chase said, every word seemingly a strain.

" _Oliver, Kaz, please calm down,"_ Skylar's reasoning voice was heard.

" _We're not going to get anywhere if you keep arguing,"_ Bree filled in.

I gave an exasperated sigh.

"And we're not going to get anywhere either if Oliver doesn't come down here now," I answered in annoyance.

" _Why can't you just trust me?!"_ Oliver shouted.

"Well, for a fact-" I began to argue, but Skylar cut me off.

" _Guys, come on! Focus! If we want to succeed, we have to work together!"_

"Yeah. That would be a whole lot easier if one of you stopped being so unreasonable,"I muttered.

" _Excuse me?!"_ Skylar exclaimed in an angry tone. _"So this is my fault now?"_

I sighed again. I had meant Oliver, not her. This was going to take a while to explain, which we honestly didn't have time for right now.

 **Chase**

I hadn't had time to think when I threw myself in front of the oncoming mass of murky water; I had just acted on instinct. The security dam was unstable and any more pressure would most certainly make it burst. If that happened we - and several parts of Centium City were truly doomed.

I knew that my force field could withstand bullets, lasers, even atomic explosions, so a bit of water was no problems. The only thing was that I wasn't sure _I_ could withstand it. I had bought the others time to find a solution, but only a little; more and more water kept pressing against the shield and my energy was quickly draining.

With a grimace I shifted my footing. My arms were already shaking of the weight, which soon enough spread through my entire body. I was pushing myself dangerously close to my limit - I couldn't hold this much longer. All my will and strength went into keeping the shield in place.

And the others didn't seem to be getting any closer to fixing things. I could hear them arguing with each other through the comm set, but their voice were muffled; I didn't understand what they were saying.

Slowly, every move grueling, I placed one hand on the earpiece.

"Guys, can you hurry up, _please?_ " I asked in a shaky voice. "I… can't… hold…"

I could feel my other arm giving in, and I desperately let go of the comm set to keep holding the force field up with both hands. Sweat trickled down the back of my neck as I let out a loud groan. Every second grew longer and longer, the strain growing more and more unbearable.

Everything disappeared around me. The only thing that existed was the pressing water. The only thing that mattered was holding it back. The _only_ thing that I could do was fight. I closed my eyes. I was beginning to feel lightheaded, which was a truly bad sign. I had to do something.

Once again, I hesitantly raised a hand to the comm set, when a roar erupted from above. The ground shook as I opened my eyes to the horrifying mass of liquor catapulting towards me. Something had gone wrong. Awfully wrong. And this time I couldn't hold it any longer. It was too much to my already exhausted body.

"NO!" I had time to scream, before my force field imploded and the water crashed down on me.

 **Oliver**

"Why can't you just trust me?!" I yelled into the comm set.

I heard Kaz begin to answer, but at this point I just switched off. I groaned. This argument was leading nowhere.

 _We don't have time for this!_

I frowned deeply, trying to shut out the others' bickering while I examined the controls again for what felt like the umpteenth time. There had to be some kind of electricity fault that had caused the spillway gates to malfunction. I guessed it had something to do with the wiring. If I could find the fault, perhaps I then could fix it, so we finally could be done with this disaster of a mission. All we had done was argue since we got here, and I could barely stand it any longer. I sighed deeply.

 _Maybe we all need a break from each other, a chance to cool our heads. Just like me and Skylar..._

I shook my head in a try to clear my mind. I didn't have time for that now. I forced the thoughts away, trying to focus solely on the task at hand.

By the far side of the control board I spotted a rectangular metal hatch with a thin handle to one side, screwed in tightly in its corners. I decided that that must be where the motherboard was, connecting all the main inputs and outputs. Using my super-strength, I grabbed the handle and removed the lid with ease. Inside was, as I had guessed, the motherboard, probably looking for the untrained eye like a total mess of wires, fuses and other electrical components. I licked my lips nervously as I studied it carefully.

I knew a little about electronics from before; it had been a hobby of mine when I was younger. Picking apart toys, old junk from the garage, even Kaz's phone once - which he hadn't been too happy about, but I had fixed it again afterwards - just to see how everything worked. This had given me the basic knowledge of how circuit boards work, which came in handy now. At least Bree, Skylar, Chase and Kaz had stopped arguing by now via the comm set, allowing me to concentrate fully.

After examining the motherboard for a while I finally found the fault. One of the fuses was overloaded, - probably because of the new operating system - the energy not exploited evenly near the output. An unusually stupid mistake, if I could say so myself.

 _Who even wired this thing?!_

To fix it, I figured I had to move one of the wires to another fuse, probably the cable furthest to my left, which by judging of its connections would be the safest one to move. If I screwed up - which I really, really hoped I wouldn't - at least nothing too bad would happen. But how was I supposed to do it? I didn't have any tools to do this properly.

My train of thought was cut short when suddenly Chase let out an agonizing yell in fear.

" _NO!"_

" _Chase!"_ I heard Bree call out. _"What is it?"_

Then I heard it. The whole tower shook as if in an earthquake, thrusting me to the ground, followed by an alarmingly loud creaking sound. It grew stronger and stronger, before suddenly being replaced with a tremendous roar that sent chills up my spine. I struggled to my feet and raced to the window, looking down towards the dam's far corner where I knew Chase was.

"Chase? Wh-" I began wearily, but choked on the words.

I couldn't see much from up here, the control tower was a little too far away, but what I saw was enough. It felt as if a hand tightly enclosed around my heart as I gripped the edge of the control desk with whitening knuckles, not being able to take my eyes off the horrific sight in front of me.

 _We failed..._

The entire spillway gates had snapped right open, creating a gigantic swell, bigger than anything I'd ever seen and demolishing everything in its way. And it was heading straight towards Bree and Skylar, who I knew were somewhere there in the woods.

"No," I muttered to myself in panic, my heart beating faster. "No, no, no."

Not wasting a second, I raised a shaking hand to my ear and yelled through the comm set:

"Skylar, Bree, get the hell away from the spillway! Now!"

 **Skylar**

"Guys, come on!" I yelled into the comm set. "Focus! If we want to succeed, we have to work together!"

" _Yeah. That would be a whole lot easier if one of you stopped being so unreasonable,"_ Kaz muttered.

"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed. "So this is my fault now?"

There was no answer on the other line. I sighed in exasperation, taking my hand off the earpiece. This day was just getting better and better.

 _Not. Now._

Bree was looking at me, concern riddled in her features.

"What?" I growled, shooting her a furious glare.

I knew I shouldn't take it out on her - I didn't mean to - but I just couldn't handle all this anymore. I sighed and opened my mouth to apologize, but Bree was quicker.

"It's okay," she said and smiled tiredly, shrugging it off.

I was just about to argue when suddenly Chase yelled:

" _NO!"_

"Chase!" Bree cried out. "What is it?"

" _Chase? Wh-"_ I heard Oliver begin to ask, before cutting short. A moment later he shouted in utter despair, _"Skylar, Bree, get the hell away from the spillway! Now!"_

"What's happening?" I demanded, worry filling me.

My question was soon answered when a rumbling sound echoed through the forest, unlike anything I'd ever heard before. Bree's head snapped to the left, eyes growing wide.

"You hear that?" she said tensely.

I nodded, my mouth running dry.

"I do."

The sound kept amplifying by the second, crescendoing to a deafening roar that sent chills down my spine. Looking up along the spillway, a giant mass clouded our view, moving at a terrifying speed and swallowing everything in its way. It took me a second to realize that it was a massive wave; a mountain of water crashing down towards us. Trees broke like matchsticks, barreled down by the brown and blue which was already dangerously close. Any moment now and it would be over us.

"Run!" Bree yelled, ushering me to follow her as she blurred into soft colours.

Hastily, I prepared to follow suit, when suddenly something big came hurling towards me from the water at an impossible speed, hitting me sharply right over my knee. Pain sliced through me as I collapsed to the ground just beside the spillway. Wincing, I clasped a hand over my leg, though pulling away when I felt something wet and sticky against the glove.

 _Blood._

Beside me laid the culprit: a twisted branch, presumably thrust out by the massive pressure of the water. I scrambled to get back up, but my leg kept giving way, sending spasms of agony through me: I couldn't run, or even stand for that matter. Glancing up, I watched in horror as the giant wave cast its shadow over me, blocking out the thin rays of morning light. Gut-wrenching dread filled when I realized that I couldn't possibly escape it. In desperation I curled myself into a ball for protection, bracing myself for impact. My head swindled a little as I forced my leg to bend, sending more pain through me, but I ignored it the best I could. I closed my eyes tightly, inhaling deeply before holding my breath.

 _Hopefully my super strength will protect me._


	5. Chaos: Part 1

**Is this me actually updating a story after only two weeks?! It's probably a new record for me... Also, I thought this story would be dead considering I abandoned it for Three months, but it seems like some still enjoy it. Thank you so much for reading and all the sweet reviews, I was literally bouncing up and down when I got them!  
** **The hydropower plant arc was supposed to end in this chapter, but it ended up getting too long, so I had to split it in two. I would have uploaded it yesterday if I hadn't been completely zonked - it's hard to sleep when your head is running a bazillion miles an hour - but here it is!  
I hope you enjoy and I'll hopefully be back soon again!**

* * *

 **Bree**

The roar of the water had grown fainter when I finally slowed down.

"Wow," I panted, "That was way too clos-"

The words caught in my throat and a knot formed in the pit of my stomach as I scanned the area. The trees towered high above me and I could see the power plant in the distance… but Skylar was nowhere to be found.

"Skylar?" I said cautiously.

Nothing.

"Skylar!"

 _Where is she?_

My heart beat faster as I again and again looked around, fervently hoping that she would appear, but deep down I knew better. Skylar was just as fast as me. There was no way she could end up so far behind. Unless… Unless something had happened to her.

Graphic pictures flashed through my mind, my imagination going wild fueled on the building fear inside of me. Skylar, lying injured somewhere in the forest; Skylar, being thrashed around like a ragdoll by the massive swell; Skylar, her eyes closed… gone.

With a shudder I forced the images away. No. I couldn't think like that. She was out there somewhere, I knew it. I refused to believe anything else.

A panic-filled voice rang in my ear.

" _Is everyone okay?!"_ Oliver asked. _"Skylar? Bree? Chase?"_

" _I'm good, thanks for asking,"_ Kaz's tired voice sounded.

"I'm fine," I said hesitantly.

I took a moment to collect my thoughts, taking a deep breath before continuing as calmly as I could manage.

"But Skylar… I don't know where she is. I-I think she could be trapped."

" _What?!"_ Oliver yelled, his voice cracking of fear. _"In the wave?"_

"I don't know!" I shouted, my calm demeanour gone as fast as it came. "She was behind me seconds ago… and now she's gone!"

" _Guys, if she's trapped in the water, we have to stop it now,"_ Kaz responded. _"Not to mention Centium City will be drowned too if we don't…"_

The line went quiet, but nothing more needed to be said. We all knew how severe our situation had become. We had failed at working as a team, and now everyone around was paying for it. I sighed deeply, trying to figure out what to do next.

Then suddenly something struck me.

"Wait a minute," I began. "Where's Chase?"

When the others didn't answer I quickly understood that they knew as little as I did, which was not what I wanted to hear.

 _Please don't be trapped too… I don't think I can handle it on top of everything else…_

"Chase!" I called out, hoping with every fibre of my being that he would reply. "Come in!"

My tone got more and more frantic as I tried to raise him again and again, the silence being the only response. Until…

" _I'm okay,"_ a quiet voice reassured me.

"Chase! Thank God!" I breathed. "Where are you?"

I had to take support from the tree next to me, the relief was so crushing. A seed of worry stayed though. What if he was hurt? Trapped?

" _I'll send you my coordinates,"_ he replied weakly.

Only a moment later I felt myself receiving them, and I immediately sped in that direction. My heels were steaming when I came to a halt in the damp soil. The mass of water thundered an estimated hundred metres away as I fervently looked around, to see him cooped up against a tree. I was beside him in a matter of seconds, gathering him in a fierce embrace. He was soaked, but I didn't care.

"Are you all right?" I mumbled against his neck, pulling away to study him carefully.

A hint of a smile flickered across his face, as tired, hazel eyes met mine.

"Just a little battered and exhausted. The story would have been completely different though if I hadn't gotten my force-field up again in time. That wave is seriously powerful."

I shuddered as I glanced towards the water again, taking in the immense distance from where we were crouching and thinking of what could have happened - imagine being thrust that far, with such _force_. He had been very, very lucky.

Chase snickered halfheartedly, causing me to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm glad I'm not normally aquaphobic, because that was terrifying enough as it was."

"Well, I'm just glad you're alive," I sighed, slowly helping him to his feet.

Slightly unsteady, he propped himself against me, taking a few calming breaths as I helped him stabilize himself. Brushing wet strands of hair out of his face, he nodded towards me and I let him go.

"What should we do now?" I asked. "So far, we've hardly done anything right."

I knew it sounded negative, but it was true - brutally true. Chase thought for a second, his brow furrowed, before he suggested:

"Let's head to the control room." 

**Oliver**

" _Guys, if she's trapped in the water, we have to stop it now. Not to mention Centium City will be drowned too if we don't…"_

I heard what Kaz was saying and that Bree was forming a reply, but I hardly registered it. I could only think of one thing. Skylar was caught out there, somewhere among the giant waves, and it was all my fault. If I hadn't persisted with opening the gates - if I had _listened_ \- they wouldn't have broken and all this could have been avoided. Most of it anyway.

My thoughts were interrupted when the door was thrust open and Gareth barged in, a wild look in his eyes.

"What have you done?!" he shrieked, seemingly about to lose it any second. "I'm gone for ten minutes and you've already made the problem ten times worse! You're bionic heroes, for goodness sake! I-"

He stopped his rant short, only shaking his head with what seemed like disappointment.

I didn't know what to say. He was right. We were heroes, and as heroes we had to succeed. Because if we didn't, innocent people would pay the price - in the worst case with their lives. And now, instead of helping, we had caused even more danger.

Gareth sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I'm sorry, I… I'm just panicking," he said. "Nothing like this has ever happened here before."

Just then the door blew open once again and Bree and Chase came to a stop beside us - both looking alarmingly worn out - the sudden appearance almost making Gareth leap out his skin.

"Super-speed," I explained to him shortly, before turning to the others. "You guys okay?"

They both nodded.

"We have to fix this - and fast," Chase added, not wasting any time.

"I know," I sighed, pulling a hand through my hand.

An explosion rumbled through the air, cutting us off. I gazed out the window uneasily as the commotion died down as quickly as it came, followed by the sound of the rush of water amplifying tenfold. Several additional flashing lights began flashing on the monitors as a shrill siren blared loudly. Gareth raced over to the controls, his face going white. I shared a panicked look with Bree and Chase. We all knew what had happened.

"This is really bad! The security dam's burst!" Gareth exclaimed, confirming our fears. "And…"

… _And the water is heading towards Centium City._

"I've got to do something!" Bree gasped, not stopping to think as her colours blurred - gone with the blink of an eye.

"Bree, wait!" Chase called out, but she was already too far away to hear him.

"She'll be okay," I tried to soothe. "She knows what she's doing."

"I hope so," he sighed in reply.

Chase glanced down, collecting his thoughts.

"Oliver, could you head down and try to close the gates manually. With your water and ice powers you should have an advantage. I'll try to work on the problem up here."

I shook my head.

"This was my fault, Chase. I screwed up, and it's up to me to fix it."

"I understand that you feel that way, but you're the only one who-"

"I can handle this," I argued stubbornly, refusing to give way.

"Of course you can," he agreed, "but the best way you can help right now is by going down there. We have to close the gates as quick as possible, and we need your help to do it."

We locked eyes; mine defiant, his weary.

"Oliver, listen," Chase eventually began quietly. "I know you and Kaz hardly have spoken since your argument, and I know you're feeling really hurt about it..."

I diverted my gaze to the ground, not wanting to make eye contact, while Chase carried on.

"... But right now I need you to put all that aside. Centium City is in danger, Oliver, and if we don't stop this fast, people may die because of our mistakes and inability to work together. This isn't about us, about me not believing in you - because I do. They need you. We need you."

As a short silence hung in the air, Gareth studied us both from the opposite side of the room, his eyes jumping back and forth between us. Outside I heard the swell, low and menacing, rocketing across the already mangled landscape. Our time was running out. I let out a deep sigh.

 _What was I thinking?_

"You're right, absolutely right," I replied, before looking up.

Without any more hesitation I walked over to the open hatch near the control board, the other two following closely behind.

"One of the fuses is overloaded, which is why it keeps blowing," I explained my discovery.

I pointed at the wiring on the motherboard, and Chase studied it carefully over my shoulder. He groaned.

"Why would you even wire it like that?" he muttered.

"That's what I thought too," I snorted, shaking my head before gesturing towards him and Gareth. "Anyway, you two attempt to sort that out, while I'll try to close the gates manually from the gate rooms."

Chase nodded, his face clearly contorted with relief as he wordlessly patted my shoulder. I smiled weakly before hurrying out.

"Stand back, Gareth," I heard Chase say.

The last thing I saw before I closed the door behind me was Chase ripping one of the wires free with his molecular kinesis, as to not get shocked by the sparkling electricity at its end.

*****  
 **  
Kaz**

I was still standing next to the flooded gate room - trying to think of what on earth I was supposed to do now - when footsteps were heard approaching in the tunnel. Pulled out of my reflections I looked up, only to find the person I was somehow least expecting come into the light of my fire-covered hand.

"You came," was all I managed to say.

"Why wouldn't I?" Oliver replied with a hint of a smile. "This is where I'm needed the most right now."

I nodded and gazed to the ground, an awkward silence falling between us as we stood opposite each other, both of us shifting a little uneasily. Eventually, Oliver cleared his throat.

"We have to hurry," he stated.

I nodded.

"You'll take the second gate, I'll take the first. We'll be quicker that way."

"Hopefully," Oliver added softly.

He was right. It was a big risk, but we didn't have a choice. The situation had gotten way out of hand already, and we were slowly losing control. And considering how well Oliver and I had worked together so far, it probably was for the best if we did this separately.

 _But we both need light..._

I looked around, letting the flames on my hand guide my way, when I spotted a pile of wooden planks lying on the ground some feet away - presumably to be used for repairs. Brightening up a little, I hastily took a few and piled them up beside both doors, before setting them on fire.

"Um… What are you doing?" Oliver asked, puzzled.

"Giving us both light," I responded shortly while walking over to the first gate room.

"Oh."

Oliver nodded in understanding, sending me a thankful look. I shook my head, glancing down towards the unwelcoming, now slightly uplit mass beneath, trying to think of a plan. Finally, I settled on the simplest one - the only one I could think of that could work: the one I had been contemplating ever since I got down here.

I dove in.

Immediately I was met by freezing cold and pitch black, as I swam on, deeper and deeper. The boards I'd set ablaze only emitted so much light, and still I kept going. Down, down, down. The pressure of the water grew.

 _How big is this room?!_

Darkness enclosing all around by now, I took a few more powerful strokes, only to almost ram head-first into some kind of machinery. I groped about, trying to make out what it was. Was this what I was looking for? A burst of bubbles erupted inadvertently from my lips. I wasn't sure. I couldn't see a thing in front of me. And worst of all: I was running out of air.

 _Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…_

I turned around, hoping to see a faint light that would tell me where I came from, but either I was too far away or the fire had burnt out because I saw nothing. I forced myself not to panic as I desperately tried to figure out what to do. Pressure was beginning to build in my temples, my whole body screaming for air. It was all I could do to stop myself from trying to take a breath.

I was running out of time fast and with that I felt my instincts take over. With my lungs burning now I propelled myself upwards. The darkness seemed more crushing now than ever and I could feel my body weaken due to the lack of oxygen. Gritting my teeth I clawed through the water - every stroke becoming a struggle - hoping fervently that the opening would be above. This couldn't be the end of me. Not here. Not now.


	6. Chaos: Part 2

**I'm back again! Yay! I would have posted it a lot sooner, if I hadn't gotten carried away and instead written thirty pages on my book... Oops.**

 **Anyway, without further ado, here's the chapter.**

 **(Important note below story)**

* * *

 **Kaz**

I was on the verge of giving up when I suddenly burst through the surface. Greedily, I sucked in several gasping breaths, treading to stay afloat. I opened my eyes, blinking a few times before staring into… nothing?

I strained my vision, trying to make out _something,_ but all I could see was more black. Panic began to fill me again. What was going on? I felt around, my hands being met by an irregular, grainy surface - perhaps concrete? - and the smooth, cold steel of what I guessed was one of the machines. Raising a hand, I felt the uneven bricks of a roof only about a foot above.

 _I'm still in the room… I think._

After a while, when my heart rate slowed and my breathing became even again, I realized I must be in an air pocket at the top of the room, which had yet to be flooded. That would explain why it was so dark and alarmingly confined. I let out a breath. I'd been very lucky.

There was still one _tiny_ problem though: how was I supposed to get out of here - let alone find the gate controls - when I couldn't see or make out anything?

Suddenly a crazy idea suddenly came to mind. I had only seen it be done in videos, and then with extra fueled fire. I knew that the fire produced by my pyrokinesis was extremely hot, but was it hot enough? If it was, then I could perhaps… I thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to do it. I couldn't be near the surface when it happened, but if I dived down at the same time…

This plan was totally, utterly nuts (which said a lot coming from me) but maybe - just maybe - it might work. I smiled to myself. There was only one way to find out.

Inhaling deeply, I thrust myself backwards into the water, at the same moment activating my pyrokinesis and firing it across the billowing surface. Flames rippled on the liquid, cascading light all around and temporarily blinding me in its brightness. The room lit up instantly, flickering of the small swell. I quickly swam downwards once my eyes had adjusted, looking for the gate controls. The light wouldn't last long since it didn't have anything to fuel it, so I had to find the controls fast.

Finally, I discovered a set of levers mounted onto a desk.

 _That must be it._

Reaching it in a few powerful strokes, I examined them carefully. It looked like the levers had to be rotated simultaneously in the same direction to operate both doors. But which way? Above me, the light was slowly dying out, the room slowly obscuring. I had to hurry. Taking a chance, I grabbed the levers and pulled them clockwise. A creaking and grinding noise was heard, muffled by the water around me as the levers stopped.

 _It should be closed now - I hope._

Either way, I didn't have time to check. Once more I was running out of air, and on top of that; the fire still rippling on the surface was almost completely out.

I just had time to make out a darker area I guessed was the exit, before the room was shrouded in blackness again. Taking my chances I swam in the presumed direction, hoping fervently I had seen right.

I had.

I took a deep gasp of air as I propelled myself onto the smooth ground of the tunnel floor. After I once again had caught my breath, I slowly rose to my feet, trying to shake the water out of my eyes as I lit up my hand. The flames cast shadows on the walls as I unsteadily made my way towards the other gateway room. As I approached the door, I could see the charred remains of the fire I had lit earlier. I began descending down the stairs.

And then I stopped.

The room was filled knee-deep with water, revealing several cool-looking machines. Oliver looked up as he reached into the water and moved some to the right onto a… thick wall of ice?

"Thanks for the light," he said, making his way over to the identical set of levers and rotating them.

A grinding screech of mechanics echoed through the air, before quietening when the gates above closed.

"It would've taken me ages to find these otherwise," Oliver continued, gesturing towards the gears.

I just stared at him, mouth slightly agape and my hand raised in the air like a torch.

"Uh, what is that?!" I eventually exclaimed, pointing at the ice wall protruding out of the water.

"I can control the molecules in the water, making them take on any form I want; gas, liquid or solid," Oliver explained proudly. "Easier to access the levers this way."

"And you could do this _all along_?" I said, slightly annoyed but also amused.

He nodded, seemingly a little entertained by my reaction.

"So I went to all that trouble and almost drowned - _twice_ \- for nothing?"

"It seems so," Oliver shrugged, a smile flickering on his lips. "Hey, it was your idea to split up."

"Yeah, that's true," I replied, for some reason beginning to chuckle.

I reciprocated his smile and for a moment, everything felt like it was back to normal again, until then I realised; it wasn't. It probably never was going to. I broke eye contact and cleared my throat uncertainly, gazing down into the swiveling water as an awkward silence hung in the air.

"Um…" Oliver began. "Well, we should probably move on to the other two gates."

"Yeah," I muttered, wading through the room towards the stairs.

Behind me, I heard Oliver repeat his words into the comm set as we walked up to the tunnel again guided by the flames on my hand. We came to a stop though when a voice rang through in our ears:

 _"_ _You don't need to,"_ Chase replied. _"I think we managed to fix the operating system."  
_

 **Chase**

I scanned the motherboard once again to be completely sure I had done everything right. I nodded contentedly to myself - all was in order - before turning to Gareth who was checking the screens.

"It's set," I told him.

"Everything seems to be okay here," he answered, nodding slowly as he did.

I wiped my hands on my pants and licked my lips, feeling slightly nervous. If this didn't work…

 _It will,_ I tried to convince myself.

I did my best to conceal the worry I felt, putting on a neutral expression.

"You ready?" I asked.

After a second's hesitation, he nodded again.

"Let's test this out."

"We're activating the system now, guys," I told the others through the comm set.

 _"_ _Alright,"_ Oliver replied, clearly as uneasy as I was.

"Okay," I muttered, inhaling deeply to try and calm my racing heart.

I approached the control board, my hand lingering on the lever for the third gate. I glanced over my shoulder and Gareth shot me an approving look. Turning back, I focused on the control. My senses were screaming at me to not go through with it. Who knew what could happen? What if this only made things worse?

But I had no choice. I had to try, or everything would be lost.

 _I can do this._

Without making time for any more doubt I pulled the lever down hard. Swiveling around, I stared intently out of the window at the gate. Gareth came up beside me, almost shaking of tension. I couldn't blame him.

Seconds passed, but nothing moved. I felt my stomach drop. I failed. It wasn't working. I must have done something wrong.

I sighed, turning my back to the view and prepared to walk back to the motherboard, when a sudden creaking and sliding sound was heard, stopping me dead in my tracks. Was that…?

"It's working!" Gareth cheered, confirming my hopes. "The gate's closing!"

"It is?" I exclaimed.

I gazed out, and sure enough the gate with a clatter closed shut. I let out a yell of relief.

"It is!"

Gareth hurriedly went over to the control board and pulled the lever for the remaining gate, and I watched triumphantly as it with a screech blocked the rest of the water off.

 _"_ _We did it!"_ Kaz shouted.

But had we really succeeded?

My smile faltered into a frown. Now that most of the heat and joy of the moment was gone, I couldn't help but feel kind of empty inside. We might have closed the gates, but the damage was already done. Looking out over the landscape, I took in the mowed-down trees, glittering puddles, broken figures of the security dam and spillways, and the ragged silhouette of Centium City in the distance.

I bit my lip. We had caused this mess - all because of our incapability together - and I knew, deep down, that this would have very grave consequences for us all. 

**Bree**

"Take my hand!" I called out.

The young girl hesitated, fear filling her wide blue eyes as she took in the destruction all around, water swiveling knee-deep around her. Some buildings had collapsed of the immense force, branches and debris littering the ground and floating on the surface of the drenched areas. Car sirens were going off, filling the now hopefully empty neighbourhood with an eerie, blaring sound. I waded further forward, stretching out my hand with the palm upwards towards her, asking her silently to trust me. Finally, she took it and, holding her firmly, I super-sped her to safety further up town, where emergency services along with the other people I'd rescued had gathered.

Not wasting a second, I immediately hurried back; looking around to make sure no one had been left behind. In the streets, buildings, cars and construction sites, and as I slowed down, all of them seemed clear. This was the third time I'd checked, but nothing could be left at chance.

 _"_ _We did it!"_ Kaz's voice suddenly rang out.

Even as those three relief-filled words were uttered, the constant roar of the cascading masses of water began to falter, getting fainter and fainter. I breathed out. It was over. They had really managed to close the gates.

"Good job, guys!" I praised, a small smile making its way onto my lips.

Just as the words left my mouth, a realisation slammed into me and brought the tension back into my body.

 _Skylar._

Skylar was still out there. And now the flood had died down and everyone had been evacuated, I had to find her. Before I even had finished that thought I was off, scanning the landscape around the power plant and spillways at a neck-breaking speed.

Eventually, I found her. As I slowed down, my breath hitched in my throat as I took in the still figure lying sprawled close to the mangled remains of the channel's left side. Her suit was torn and caked with grime and mud, her hair a tangled wet mass twisting around her unconscious form. I knelt down, gently turning her on her back and taking in her still, pale features.

"Skylar?"

I began to panic. Thousands of thoughts raced through my mind at an impossible rate, making it hard to make any sense out of anything. What was I meant to do?

 _CPR, I have to do CPR._

Right. I knew this; we'd trained for this situation several times. Only now, it was my best friend who was in need. I took several calming breaths, trying to regain my composure, going through each step in my head.

 _C-A-B. Compressions, Airway, Breathing. 30:2 ratio._

Finally finding a sense of self-control, I began performing CPR, detaching myself from all emotion to remain calm and collected.

Seconds descended into minutes, every dread-filled moment more and more stretched out as I repeated the procedure again and again, over and over. My facade and demeanour began to slip. It was becoming harder and harder for me to contain myself. It wasn't working.

"Come on!" I pressed through gritted teeth, not being able to take my eyes off her still facial features. "Don't give up on me, Skylar, _please_!"

She didn't even stir. I could feel my throat burn as I tried to push back the tears, refusing to believe that this was the end. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. I wouldn't stand for it...

And then she coughed. A stream of murky liquid flowed out of her mouth before she took a sharp, desperate breath of air.

"Skylar?" I whispered, paralyzed with shock and relief.

She spluttered, coughing up more water, as she slowly turned her head towards my voice. A pair of wide, disorientated hazel eyes stared back at me.

"Bree…?" she slurred, her chest moving rapidly as she drew several rattling breaths, colour returning to her cheeks.

It felt as if a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Tears began to form in my eyes as I embraced her tightly, feeling her warm breath tickle against my cheek.

"Thank goodness," I mumbled into her saturated hair. "For a moment I thought… I thought I'd lost you."

"You don't get rid of me that easily," she whispered jokingly, before turning serious again. "What happened?"

I hesitated. I didn't know where to start, and I wasn't sure how Skylar would take the bad news of the mission's outcome.

Luckily for me - or unluckily perhaps - I didn't get the chance to begin. Skylar's eyes went wide as the memories flowed back to her.

"The gigantic wave - we have to stop it!" she exclaimed.

She tried to get up on shaking arms, but I gently pushed her back down again.

"Take it easy," I soothed. "It's been taken care of. We managed to close the gates."

Skylar rested her head on the soil underneath, a smile creeping onto her lips despite the situation.

"So we did it," she said, more of a statement than a question.

"Not really…" I sighed, looking at all the destruction around us.

Trees had been pulled out, roots and all, and the ground was covered in damp dirt. Branches, rocks, pools of water and metal parts from the channels lay strewn out everywhere. And I was quite certain that some parts of Centium City were far worse off. I could still hear in my mind the sound of houses and cars being swallowed and crushed by the oncoming waves. I had managed to save everyone - I fervently hoped so at least - but I knew the property damage would be severe.

Though as I began to explain to Skylar what had happened, all I could care about, all that mattered to me at that moment was the fact that my best friend was alive and breathing.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap on the Power plant - mission (but it will have effects, that's for sure). I think it turned out pretty all right actually!**

 **Oliver being able to manipulate water molecules isn't a new ability he has, as he has used both hydro and cryokinesis in several episodes; water in different forms (and the molecules tighter or with more space in between them). It's only natural that he would be able to do so with steam and such too, I think.**

 **Okay, there's something I 'd like to tell you. This will probably be the last chapter I post in a while. School's coming up again, and I'm honestly freaking out a little. I'm starting the gymnasium (I think that is equivalent of year 10?) at a new school, with tons of unfamiliar people and a different school system. As I'm really bad with distractions, I need to distance myself from Writing a Little, just so I have time to settle in and focus on my future. As much as I love writing here (mostly thanks to all of you - thank you once again SO MUCH!), it's probably for the best so I don't end spending all my study time writing, brainstorming and scribbling notes for future story events (Which happened a lot last term...)**

 **But I promise I will be back soon! (Hopefully the cliffhanger isn't too bad, so you can bare with me.) Hope you have a wonderful day! :)**


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